The Post Brewing Company takes over former Lafayette VFW site

Chicken joint, brewery to open in late summer

Big Red F owner Dave Query, left, and chef Brett Smith have partnered to bring The Post Brewing Company to the former VFW Post on Emma Street late this summer. (Doug Pike / Colorado Hometown Weekly)

The way Dave Query sees it, there's plenty of places to grab a pizza and a pint or a burger and brew, even tacos and tequila.

It was while tossing around ideas for a new restaurant that Query and business partner Brett Smith inevitably decided it was time somebody paired a home-brewed mug of good cheer with chicken.

Late this summer Query, the founder and owner of Big Red F -- the parent company to such Boulder hot spots as Jax (Fish House), Zolo, Centro, West End Tavern and Bitter Bar -- and Smith, the current chef at Zolo, will open The Post Brewing Company at the former site of Lafayette VFW Post 1771, 105 W. Emma St.

The Post will feature a chicken-centered restaurant, along with an in-house brewing operation.

"I've been clucking about chicken for a long time," Query said. "Who doesn't love chicken? I was born in Kentucky, just a couple miles away from the second-ever KFC. I shook the Colonel's hand when I was 8.

"The pizza thing took off a while back. The burger thing has been done to death. There's a taco stand on every corner. But nobody has given the bird any love. We're going to love the bird."

Smith, who will serve as The Post's head chef, went out to Nashville last month to scout the region's restaurant chicken recipes. Similar trips are in the works to Texas, Kansas City and North Carolina.

By the time the menu is set, Smith said, "Nobody will do chicken like we will."

"Basically, it's going to be all about the chicken," Smith said. "We'll have fried chicken, rotisserie chicken, a bunch of appetizers with chicken, drumsticks, a lot of stuff with eggs. Chicken's kind of blowing up this year."

Query anticipates four to six different beers will be brewed on site, and doesn't have plans for distribution. He said the brewing operation will start small, initially just filling the steins at The Post before eventually trickling into Big Red F's other restaurants.

"We want to really dial in the beer for here, servicing this location first," Query said.

The Post has yet to settle on a brewmaster.

"We're still in the hunt," Query said. "Colorado is, or is at least one of, the epicenters for craft brewing. There's a lot of people out there with a passion for it. We have a passion for drinking, but we're going to have to find some overly qualified people to do the brewing for us."

As a VFW post since 1978, the building has served as a local watering hole for years. Query said the brewery/restaurant wanted to recognize those roots in its name but has also extended a welcoming hand to the VFW's former patrons.

"I'm sure the vets will be in here. We might have to get them bar stools with their names on them," Query said. "We want to pay homage to the VFW. A lot of weddings, funerals, parties, bar mitzvahs have been held in this place. A lot of people in this town have a lot of memories that took place here."

At more than 8,000 square feet, the building exceeds Query and Smith's needs. As a result, the back 3,000 square feet will go undeveloped.

The brewing operations, which will be visible from the dining area, will take up around 1,800 square feet. The restaurant and bar, including the kitchen, will occupy the rest of the facility. Smith estimates the restaurant's dining area will seat in the neighborhood of 75-100.

Smith said VFW regulars will find familiarity with the bar's planned horseshoe setup, but the rest of the facility is getting reworked.

Exposed beams will replace low ceilings, the doorway is slated to be widened and the wall behind the bar will be knocked out to provide for an indoor/outdoor setting during warm weather.

Smith said the outdoor bar seating will closely resemble that at Centro in Boulder. Query said he envisions bocce courts and cornhole boards.

"It's such a great space. We want to take advantage of it," Smith said, emphasizing the need to fit in with the bordering residential neighborhood. "Outside, we want to keep everything contained with high fences or hedges. We want to make sure people in the neighborhood are happy with us."

Due to its steel "Butler" design, all walls and the roof are self-supported and don't require interior beams or walls inside the structure. Standing inside the cavernous, gutted building last week, Query likened it to a carnival tent.

"We've been talking about doing a brewery for a long time now," Query said. "But to find a building like this, and to make it affordable, we thought it would have to be in East Boulder County."

Smith said the site is everything he could have asked for.

"The thing that I'm looking forward to most is to be in East Boulder County," Smith said. "I'm an Erie resident, and I come through this area all the time. I used to just use Public Road as a cut-across route but there has been a lot of good restaurants and businesses landing here."

Smith said one only has to look at Louisville's Main Street to see that neighboring restaurants can work to benefit one another.

"I think Louisville is a good model," Smith said. "Competition is a good thing. It's going to help all restaurants to have more good restaurants in the area, and there's already great, artsy shops to walk to in the area."

Query said when the property vacancy was brought to his attention, he knew he had found the home for his brewery.

"Old Town is a draw, and the City of Lafayette is happy to have us. It's a great spot," Query said. "It's so much different than working with the City of Boulder. (Lafayette is) really happy to promote business. It's refreshing."